Holder to NAACP: Trayvon Martin’s Death Was ‘Unnecessary,’ Questions ‘Stereotypes’ and Stand-Your-Ground Laws

Holder said Trayvon Martin’s death forced him to have a conversation with his 15-year-old son like his father did with him.

“This was a father-son tradition I hoped would not need to be handed down,” Holder said. “But as a father who loves his son and who is more knowing in the ways of the world, I had to do this to protect my boy. I am his father and it is my responsibility, not to burden him with the baggage of eras long gone, but to make him aware of the world he must still confront. This is a sad reality in a nation that is changing for the better in so many ways.”

“As important as it was, I am determined to do everything in my power to ensure that the kind of talk I had with my son isn’t the only conversation that we engage in as a result of these tragic events,” he said.

Holder, meanwhile, called a calm and rationale conversation about Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s acquittal by an all-female jury that did not include any African Americans. Anti-Zimmerman protests are being planned in 100 cities across the country scheduled for Saturday.

“Independent of the legal determination that will be made, I believe this tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly – and openly – about the complicated and emotionally-charged issues that this case has raised,” Holder said. I hope that we will continue to approach this necessarily difficult dialogue with the same dignity that those who have lost the most – Trayvon’s parents – have demonstrated throughout the last year – and especially over the past few days.”

“They suffered a pain that no parent should have to endure – and one that as a father, cannot begin to conceive,” Holder added. “As we embrace their example – and hold them in our prayers – we must not forego this opportunity to better understand one another. “And we must not fail to seize this chance to improve this nation we cherish.”